Primary Menu

ocTEL: Activity 1.2: Reflecting on strategies for Learning Technology

This week on ocTEL one of the activities is to reflect on strategies for Learning Technology

Activity 1.2: Reflecting on strategies for Learning Technology

This activity is about strategy and how you or someone in your role might contribute to a strategy for using Learning Technology in face to face, blended or online learning context.

A: If you have your own example, reflect on the following questions…

I am currently in the process of writing a new strategy for Activate Learning, this is still a work in progress, with further consultation. So for the purpose of this activity I am going to reflect on the ILT (Information and Learning Technology) Strategy I developed and wrote for Gloucestershire College.

Did you contribute to the strategy, if so, in what capacity?

I was responsible for the strategy, both in terms of development and delivery.

Is the main focus of the strategy on Learning Technology, or if not, what is its main focus?

The main focus was not on learning technology, but on learners, and specifically, outcomes for learners.

How often is it reviewed and is it flexible enough to adapt as things change?

It was a three year strategy. For me it was important that the focus was not on specific technologies, as this wouldn’t provide the flexibility required. By not naming technologies, it would enable the college to take advantage of new technologies and innovations as they arrived on the scene.

The strategy also had a specific section on innovation to ensure that the college could adapt as things change.

A strategy also needs to be a living document, not a static constraint on innovation.

Does the strategy impact on your practice and if so, how? If not, why?

A strategy in itself, will do very little. It needs to be followed up with an operational plan.

Finally, if you were to provide input to a new version, what, if any, changes would you make to it?

The key change I would make, would be to build on the teaching, learning and assessment strategy. If possible the strategies would be worked on together.

I was just looking through your post about the learning strategy and found it interesting as it is you kept the emphasis away from learning technologies to allow flexibility in what was used. I completely agree and think this was a good approach to your (and most other) strategies. However, I am just wondering what technologies you came across when the strategy was in place? I was just wondering if the technologies are completely left out, what sort of engagement did you get with technologies?

One of the key technologies that “appeared” during the life of that strategy, was the iPad, released in May 2010, which really came to the fore in 2011 with the release of the iPad 2. Like most establishments there was a lot of interest from staff and learners. With a more learning focused strategy, this meant that rather than just buy iPads, people needed to think about the pedagogical or administrative problems the iPad was going to solve. The strategy also allowed for experimentation, so we did go out and get some iPads (and later some Android tablets) for areas to “play” with.